Weekend Reading: 19-20 May 2018

Global Macro / Markets / Investing:

• Buyer Beware: Hundreds of Bitcoin Wannabes Show Hallmarks of Fraud – WSJ
• Pope Calls Derivatives Market a ‘Ticking Time Bomb’ – Bloomberg
• Blockchain Isn’t As Cool As It Thinks It Is – Bloomberg
• PayPal Nears $2.2 Billion Deal for European Fintech Startup iZettle – WSJ
• Market Pessimism Is at Risk of Turning Into a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy – Bloomberg
• Oil Is Above $70, but Frackers Still Struggle to Make Money – WSJ
• Getting Inside Elon Musk’s Head – Barron’s
• The populism backlash: An economically driven backlash – VoxEU…this – the punters are cheesed off and they are cheesed off with their economic lot…

Americas:

• Responding to Leaks, White House Limits Number of Staff in Daily Meeting – NY Times
• Eric Trump attacks Democrats: ’They’re not even people’ – USA Today
• How Baby Boomers Broke America – Time
• U.S. Births Hit Lowest Number Since 1987 – WSJ
• Don’t Fall for Employers’ Whining About a ‘Skills Gap’ – Bloomberg
• The Jobs That Are Getting Priced Out of Superstar Cities – CityLab
• Trump fails to halt ’Apprentice’ contestant’s defamation lawsuit – Reuters
• Trump gets credit for beliefs and getting things done – Axios
• The 9.9 Percent Is the New American Aristocracy – The Atlantic
• Venezuela’s Creditors Are Cutting Its Crude-Oil Lifeline – WSJ

Europe:

• Germany’s Great European Heist, by Adam Tooze & Shahin Vallée – Project Syndicate
• EU to block US sanctions on Iran for European companies – DW.com
• Italian populist parties accuse markets of ‘blackmail’ – FT
• The Ink Is Almost Dry on Italy’s 15% Flat Tax Rate – Bloomberg
• Iceland: from fishing to tourism / 10 years on at Sigrún Davíðsdóttir’s Icelog – UTI
• EU Hardens Against Trump With United Stand on Trade and Iran – Bloomberg
• May Risks Wrath of Brexit Backers With Customs Extension Plan – Bloomberg
• UK manufacturers attack post-Brexit customs plan – FT

Asia:

• China buys record amount of Russian soybeans after canceling US orders over Trump threats – The Hill
• China Buys Record Amount of Russian Soy as It Shuns U.S. Growers – Bloomberg
• China Offered Trump $200 Billion Cut in U.S. Trade Deficit, Official Says – Bloomberg
• Trump’s China Tariffs Would Hit U.S. Firms More, Peterson Says – Bloomberg
• President Trump Isn’t Prepping Much for the North Korea Summit – Time
• ’Thank the Party!’ China tries to brainwash Muslims in camps – AP
• Ant Financial extends dominance in Chinese online finance – FT
• Trump says he doubts China trade negotiations will succeed – CNBC
• Japan plans retaliatory tariffs against United States: NHK – Reuters

Trans-Tasman:

• Commercial media organisations are baying for the ABC’s blood – The Guardian
• Australia cannot afford another Turnbull-Morrison budget – Independent Australia
• Australia urged to follow suit as UK cracks down on pokies, limiting bets to $3.60 per spin – ABC
• Hospitality workers forced to chase millions in unpaid superannuation – ABC
• The Government’s “Religious Freedom” Review Will Remain A Secret For Now – Junkee
• Coalition won’t ban live exports and has delayed report’s release – The Guardian
• Fixing citizenship imbroglio is not just a matter of better paperwork – ABC
• ‘The windmill is disappearing’ from our landscape: One farmer’s mission to save rural relics – ABC
• The Liberal Party’s female players relegated to the sidelines are a reminder – politics is a blood sport – ABC
• Innovation is still the key to jobs and growth – ABC
• Telco industry pushes back against proposed NBN migration rules – Arnnet
• Royal outrage as conservative chorus rounds on ABC – The Guardian
• Turnbull government ‘knew for years’ about network rorts, letters show – The Age
• Private insurance burning billions on non-health costs, profits – The New Daily
• Twyford slams Treasury’s accounting around KiwiBuild – Interest.co.nz
• Robertson: This rebuilding Budget is just the beginning – Interest.co.nz
• Dollarmites bites: the scandal behind the Commonwealth Bank’s junior savings program – Fairfax….just when you thought Banks’ reputations couldn’t go any lower…

Other:

• I Tried to Get an AI to Write This Story – Bloomberg
• Magic mushrooms ‘reboot’ brain in depressed people – study – Guardian